Musings on the byways of popular culture
For anyone with 15 minutes to spare here’s John McSherry and myself chatting to Marie-Louise on BBC Radiio Ulster earlier this evening on the matter of uilleann piping and books thereon.
John plays two fabulous pieces of music (with fellow piping supremo Francis McIlduff) and gives a demonstration, and snippets of Liam O’Flynn and Séamus Ennis are played.
While ChimneySinging has been busy making a film about the New Wave of New Wave I’ve been busy writing a book about the Oldest of Old Waves – 18th century blues: Irish uilleann piping.
‘The Wheels Of The World: 300 Years Of Irish Uilleann Pipers’ is published internationally in September by Jawbone Press. Tomorrow, Monday June 13, I press ‘go’ on the print run. The book is a quarter of a million words and it’s been an adventure. I would never have thought to tackle it, nor thought I had the knowledge to do so (correction: the knowledge as to how to acquire the knowledge), had my friend and co-author, and piping pro, John McSherry not encouraged me.
I believe limited copies will be available, signed, from John and I via the website in the month before general publication. The website is: www.thewheelsoftheworld.com
Your friend and mine, Hannah, was a big help in doing three days of very detailed and rewarding research for me in the larger of the two main British Isles (I live in the smaller one, and plane fares/accommodation expenses are a drag).
The book is written for the interested general reader, by no means just the » Continue Reading.
